How to say "identify" in Japanese

• 突き止めるつきとめるCommon
  ichidan verb, transitive verbCovers 'identify' as pinning something down through investigation: identifying the culprit, the underlying cause, or where something is. The common word of the three for this sense, as with police establishing who committed a crime.
  ホームページに住所じゅうしょを書かいたら、その気きになれば誰だれでもあなたの居所いどころを突き止つきとめられる。↗

  If you write your address on a web-page, anybody can find out where you live if the whim takes them.
• アイデンティファイ
  noun, suru verbA direct loanword transcription of 'identify'. It is less common and seldom the word you want; in ordinary use the sense is carried by a native verb instead.
• 聞き分けるききわける
  ichidan verb, transitive verbCovers 'identify' only in the auditory sense: recognizing or telling apart voices and other sounds. Less common, but the natural choice when hearing does the identifying, as with knowing a person by their voice.
  小鳥ことりの声こえを聞き分ききわけることが出来できますか。↗

  Can you tell one bird from another by hearing them?

Match the sense: 「突き止める」 identifies a culprit, a cause, or a location through investigation; 「聞き分ける」 identifies voices and sounds by ear; 「アイデンティファイ」 is a less common loanword, seldom the word you want.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 突き止めるつきとめるto determine (esp. a culprit or underlying cause)
• アイデンティファイidentify
• 聞き分けるききわけるto recognize (by sound)
• 指すさすto identify